Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida State earned the No. 3 seed in this year’s ACC Tournament and will face sixth-seeded Boston College in the first round on Wednesday, November 7 at 7:30 pm in Lake Buena Vista at Disney’s Wide World of Sports® Complex. Florida State finished in a tie for second place in the conference standings with 20 points with Wake Forest but the Demon Deacons received the No. 2 seed by virtue of their 3-2 victory over the Seminoles back on October 25 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Since 2001, the Seminoles have finished no lower than fourth place in the ACC standings, while it’s the fifth straight, top three finish for the Garnet and Gold and sixth overall.

A season ago, Florida State advanced to the championship final for the third time in school history. The Seminoles defeated Duke 2-0 in the opening round, advanced past Wake Forest in the semifinals following a penalty kick shootout and then dropped a hard fought 2-1 overtime game to North Carolina in the finals.

For the second time this season and for the fourth time in the series, Florida State and Boston College will square-off in the state of Florida. The Seminoles are 2-0-0 against the Eagles in Tallahassee including a 1-0 victory four weeks ago. The two teams faced each other for the first time in the series in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. The game ended in a scoreless tie with BC advancing 3-1 in penalty kicks. FSU is unbeaten in four previous meetings against the Eagles while defeating BC 1-0 earlier in the regular season at home. Junior Mami Yamaguchi scored the lone goal converting on a penalty kick attempt in the 83rd minute. FSU held the advantage in shots (14-7) and corner kicks (8-1), while BC posted two more fouls (13-11).

NOTING THE ACC TOURNAMENT In ACC Tournament openers, the Seminoles were 0-5 and outscored 27-1. Since 2000 it has been a completely different story. In the last seven ACC Tournament openers FSU is 4-1-2 and has advanced into the semifinals in five of those seven tournaments.

Since the 2000 ACC Tournament only North Carolina has advanced to the semifinals more times than FSU. The Seminoles and Blue Devils have each advanced into the semis in five of the last seven tournaments. Other than North Carolina who has played for the title in every year since the tournament’s inception in 1988, Florida State has appeared in more ACC Championship games than any other team in the conference with three. Virginia follows with two, while Duke and Clemson each have one appearance since 2000.

With a top three finish once again in 2007, FSU and UNC are the only teams with five consecutive top three finishes in the league. The Seminoles have the third-longest streak of being .500 or above in conference play behind North Carolina and Virginia and FSU is also third behind those two teams for ACC wins and ACC winning percentage since 2000. The Seminoles and Cavs are tied for second behind UNC for the fewest losses in ACC play since 2000 as well.

Heading into the 2007 ACC Tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 10 Seminoles on the current roster enter with prior postseason experience. Leading the way with the most minutes played is senior defender Libby Gianeskis. In fact the backline has the most experience out of all the other positions with 1236 combined playing minutes between Gianeskis, Katrin Schmidt and Becky Edwards. Four of those 10 Seminoles will be inactive for the tournament as injuries will keep Brittney Marriott, Melissa Samokishyn, Onnie Trusty and Sarah Wagenfuhr from participating this season. Senior Holly Peltzer leads all players with two goals, while junior Mami Yamaguchi has tallied three assists in the ACC Tournament. Peltzer (2005) and Yamaguchi (2006) in their career have each earned All-Tournament recognition.

When it comes to nail biters, Florida State has lived up to the hype at the ACC Tournament. In one-goal games, the Seminoles are 2-2 posting victories over Wake Forest and Maryland. The two losses have come at the hands of North Carolina, both coming in the tournament finals including last year’s overtime defeat. The Seminoles have played to four ties in the tournament and have advanced three of those times via penalty kicks. Florida State is 1-3 in two-goal games and 2-6 in games decided by three or more goals.

For the third consecutive year and for the fourth time in the last five seasons, FSU lost just two regular season conference games. From 1995 to 2000, the Seminoles registered just five league wins in 42 games. Since 2001, Florida State has posted a record of 35-17-8 in league play averaging five wins a season.